Community access television (CATV), also referred to as cable television, is a system of delivering television programming to paying subscribers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables or light pulses transmitted through fiber-optic cables. In CATV distribution networks, lossy equalizer circuits are used to compensate for higher losses in coaxial cable (coax) lines at higher frequency. Depending on the length of the cable run, more loss at lower frequencies is needed. The term “tilt” is used to refer to a loss versus frequency response of an equalizer circuit for CATV infrastructure networks. Currently, network providers install different equalizer (EQ) tilt circuits depending on the length of a cable run and other system conditions. In order to tune the tilt level of the network using conventional methods, a technician has to swap discrete tilt networks with different tilt (i.e., loss vs. frequency response) levels in the field, which is costly. The use of discrete tilt networks forces network installers to maintain a broad range of tilt networks and manually replace tilt networks rather than simply adjusting a tuning voltage to optimize the tilt level.
It would be desirable to implement a voltage controlled equalizer, or “tilt” network.